Financial Comparison: Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) & Icon Energy (NASDAQ:ICON)

Genco Shipping & Trading (NYSE:GNK) and Icon Energy (NASDAQ:ICON) are both small-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and price targets for Genco Shipping & Trading and Icon Energy, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Genco Shipping & Trading	0	3	1	1	2.60
Icon Energy	0	0	0	0	0.00

Genco Shipping & Trading currently has a consensus target price of $21.00, suggesting a potential downside of 11.55%. Given Genco Shipping & Trading’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities analysts clearly believe Genco Shipping & Trading is more favorable than Icon Energy.

Volatility & Risk

Genco Shipping & Trading has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Icon Energy has a beta of 5.45, suggesting that its share price is 445% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and Icon Energy”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Genco Shipping & Trading	$342.05 million	3.01	-$4.37 million	($0.11)	-215.85
Icon Energy	$11.26 million	0.07	-$4.20 million	($23.65)	-0.05

Icon Energy has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Genco Shipping & Trading. Genco Shipping & Trading is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Icon Energy, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

58.6% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.1% of Genco Shipping & Trading shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Genco Shipping & Trading pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.4%. Icon Energy pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 32.4%. Genco Shipping & Trading pays out -1,818.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Icon Energy pays out -1.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years.

Profitability

This table compares Genco Shipping & Trading and Icon Energy’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Genco Shipping & Trading	-1.28%	-0.12%	-0.10%
Icon Energy	N/A	N/A	N/A

Summary

Genco Shipping & Trading beats Icon Energy on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Genco Shipping & Trading

Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd. is an international ship owning company, which engages in the transportation of iron ore, coal, grain, bauxite, steel products, and other drybulk cargoes. It operates through the Major Bulk and Minor Bulk segments. The Major Bulk segment focuses on Capesize vessels. The Minor Bulk segment consists of Ultramax and Supramax vessels. The company was founded on September 27, 2004 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

About Icon Energy

Iconix Brand Group, Inc. is a brand management company. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned a portfolio of over 30 global consumer brands across women’s, men’s, and home categories. The Company operates through segments: men’s, women’s, home and international. The Company’s brand portfolio includes brands, such as Candie’s, Bongo, Joe Boxer, Rampage, Mudd, London Fog, Mossimo, Ocean Pacific/OP, Danskin/Danskin Now, Rocawear/Roc Nation, Cannon, Royal Velvet, Fieldcrest, Charisma, Starter, Waverly, Ecko Unltd/Mark Ecko Cut & Sew, Zoo York, Umbro, Lee Cooper and Artful Dodger, and interests in Material Girl, Ed Hardy, Truth or Dare, Modern Amusement, Buffalo, Nick Graham Hydraulic and PONY brands. It operates in various geographic regions, including the United States, Japan and Other (which principally represent Latin America and Europe).